Firefighters Rescue Gas Company Worker Trapped in Backyard Sinkhole in Hesperia

HESPERIA, Calif., Mar. 4 (KNN) — On Monday morning, a technical rescue operation was initiated around 9:13 a.m. on the 16500 block of Orange Street in Hesperia after a man fell into a 30 to 40-foot-deep sinkhole.

Emergency responders arrived soon after and found the man with injuries from the fall.

The rescue team worked for a little over an hour to extract him from the hole. During the operation, personnel requested that BNSF Railway shut down all railroad operations to prevent vibrations that could further loosen sand and complicate the rescue.

San Bernardino County firefighters successfully removed the man and transported him to the Hesperia Airport, where he was airlifted to a local trauma center due to his injuries. He was reported to be stable. Numerous family members and colleagues were present at the scene.

Preliminary information from public information officers indicated that the hole was an old well that had been covered by loose gravel, but had subsequently given way resulting in the man’s fall.

Currently, the PIO claims the male is a worker for a gas company, possibly the Arizona Pipeline Company.

Alex Gomez-Madrigal,Video Journalist / KNN